Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-02-11

| night met with terrible accident near
| Woodstock, on the Central Vermont rail
! road, at about 2:30 this morning. The
| train started from this city on time, but
| was detained at White River Junction, so
| it was about an hour and half late when
| 1t left there. 1t consisted of a locomo-
| tive, baggage car, postal car, two passen-
! ger coaches and two sleeping cars, and
was running at the usual rate of speed.
! When about 200 yards south of the end
of the deck bridge, near the old Windsor
| Station,
BROKEN RAIL
was struck. The locomotive, baggage
! car and postal-car broke away from the
rest of the trim, passing over tho bridge
| in safety. The rest of the train was
| thrown from the rails, and continued on
| the road-bed until it came near the end
| of the bridge, but there it ran over the
abutment, and all of the cars fell into the
White river, some fifty feet below. The
gorge at this point is frightful, and when
the cars went down there was terrible
crash. As soon as possible the detached
part of the train was stopped and run
back to the scene of the disaster. The
screams of the I'M jured were heartrending.
Assistance also came from the people
living in the vicinity, and everything was
done to rescue and relieve the injured.
THE TRAIN IN FLAMES.
Soon after help arrived it was discov
cred that fire had started in the first pas
senger coach, and soon the entire train
was ablaze, thus adding a new horror to
the already frightful catastrophe. Those
present were powerless to stop the fire
nd lya5 aI 10 at-
tempting to rescue those imprisoned in
the wreck. The rescurers met another
and an unexpected obstacle in the heat
which had become SO intense that they
were obliged to relinquish their efforts to
save the sufferers, and were compelled to
retreat to place of safety for themselves
and to become unwilling and horror
stricken witnesses of the awful holocaust.
In addition to this, and to the horrors
| and sufferings of the passenger, the
weather was intensely cold, and the her
oic rescuers were hindered thereby in
their work.
NO WATER COULD BE OBUAISED
with which to check or extinguish the
flames. The ice was several inches thick
on the river, and there were no appli-
ances at hand to raise it.
Ira A. Chase, of Bristol, was at White
River Junction when the news of the dis
aster was received. He went to the wreck
on a special train. His story of the &C
cident is as follows:
The train left White River junction
late, and the accident is thought to have
occurred about 2:15 a. IN. broken
rail was discovered some 200 feet this
side of the bridge, but whether this caus-
Cd thno uhaa frct 10 i-
in doubt. The locomotive, baggage and
mail cars crossed the bridge in safety.
Two passenger coaches, the Boston sleep
ing car Pilgrim" and the Springfield
sleeper "St. Albans" went off the end at
the right hand side and apparently turn
ea bottom side up in the fall. Men living
near by stated that when they got to the
scene there was no fire except in the for
ward passenger car, but the flames soon
spread to the other ears and than to the
bridge. All were consumed. Twenty. six
persons so far as known, were taken out
alive from the cars which were burned.
Two of these are understood to be Mr..
Wesson, pistol manufacturer, of Spring
field, and Ed Brocklebanks, a brakem an,
but they died soon after.
THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS
The two passenger coaches were well
filed, and every berth in the Boston sleep
ing car was occupied, and twelve in the
one from Springfield, making the total
number Of passengers in the wrecked
cars about eighty. This will probably
make the number of dead between fifty
and sixty. The bridge was between thir-
tv and forty feet above the water, which
vas covered with thick ice, making it
probable that death resulted from crush
ing and burning rather than from drown
ing. Several were
PENNED UP IN THE WRECK
who might have been rescued alive but
for the flames. Brakeman Parker, who
was on the forward end of the first pas
senger car felt the jar and saved his life
by jumping. He quickly secured con-
veyance and carried the news to White
River Junction.
The railroad bridge took fire from the
wreck, and was totally destroyed. The
accident is the most terriable of any that
ever occurred in Northern New England.
FARMER's HOSPITAL ROOF.
When the relief train from White river
junction reached the wreck the prog-~ss
of the flames had been so rapid that
bridge and four cars had been destroye>.
Burning timbers we're seen, and the iron
work of the bridge was scattered over the
ice. The only house near the scene was
that of Thomss Pingres, a farmer, and
hal it not been for his hospital roof some
of the in iured would doubtless have per-
ished from exposure. The baggage and
| mail car afforded accommodations for
number of the wounded.